The life views and observations of Mal James, a Fox News Channel International Cameraman based in London, who perhaps has one of the most bizarre and dangerous jobs in the world.
Lets face it who else do you know who has a Pakistan Airlines Frequent Flyer Card....and boasts about it

Thursday, January 17, 2008

In times of crisis, there are plumbers available 24 hours a day even if they charge more than Ernst & Young Accountant an hour. If you are hurt or injured hospitals claim to have highly trained medical teams open 24 hours a day, even if you might have to wait 8 hours to see someone other than a cleaner. Your can breakdown in the middle of the night in the worst rainstorm of the century and according to the commercials on TV their smiling roadside mechanic will get you home in time to give your missing two front teeth daughter her birthday present. These are all noble professions that in an emergency we use.

There is a crisis that we in the West have ignored for far to long. Perhaps the Liberal and Conservative Press into a catatonic state of ignorance as to the plight of the housing and commercial building market, in the largest Nuclear Armed Islamic nation in this world, have blinded us.

Whilst we worry about global terrorism and jihads’ mountain camps where terrorists train in children’s playgrounds. If you think I joke? please next time you see a Al Qaida training film the odds are that in some scene there will be masked men with AK 47’s strapped to themselves swinging across a set of Monkey bars to rousing music.

On the streets of Pakistan a small but dedicated few are there for the many, preventing a blueprint from falling into the clutches of a Fundamental Architect.

They need our support, they might not have the flashing lights and sirens we associate with an emergency but as they say “Who are you going to call?”

I still thou ponder what the hell does an Emergency Architect do and who in the hell would need one. But then again that is why I like Pakistan. Simple things in a complicated world.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

There is a line in the movie, "A Mighty Heart". which portrays the tragic murder by terrorists of Daniel Pearl "Karachi a city so vast that you cannot count the people".

It is one of the strange things whereby I can sit in my hotel room here in Karachi and watch this movie and at the same time have the door open and listen to the traffic and sounds of life of the place a movie is set in at the same time.

We have been here five days and have seen the city come back to life, the first day it was so quiet and yet so dangerous we tried to enter a part of the city and managed to get 100m up the road before we had to turn back for safety reasons. It is hard to explain how 100m up a road and the mood can change from safety to danger on a scale of ten. It was as each meter on the road we were descending into hell.

New Years Eve was spent with just Greg Palkot (Correspondent) and Tadek Markowski (Producer) on the roof of the hotel, actually featured in the movie. We listened to gunfire and decided what goes up must come down and left the roof asap.

Tomorrow we head to Islamabad and wrap up coverage from the capital, hoping to be out and back home to London early next week, by early that means we have seats confirmed for Wednesday.